Holiday Party

This year was no exception to a lot of fun, good food, and good-natured present stealing.  Marilyn hosted us, as always for this special party, in her beautifully decorated home.  They really do it up right for the holidays with garlands, wreaths, and decorations everywhere.  A few of us showed quilts completed or in process.  Ann suggested that we use one of the new books that came out recently and do the design exercises at the end of each chapter, starting in 2013.  2013! how time flies.  Many in the group liked the idea and decided on Sandra Meech's book, Connecting Design to Stitch.

Also coming up on our schedule will be a joint meeting with the Ragtag Quilters.  Everyone is encouraged to bring a recent art quilt.  MQA will provide refreshments and we'll meet at Marilyn's on January 31st.

And here are all our smiling faces.

Solstice

We gathered at Ann's house on the mountain for our meeting on the Solstice.  Because of the gorgeous views from Ann's it's the perfect place to be on the Solstice, so it's become an annual tradition.  And here we all are, freezing to death.  Yes, it was cold and windy on the mountaintop, but lovely to be there again.

More retreat photos

We've all agreed that this was the best retreat yet, but we did struggle with setting up the timer on 3 different cameras to capture this silliness Friday night.  Sitting the camera on a stack of books on a countertop was less than ideal, but you get the idea.

Front row from left: Marilyn, Betty, SuZEE, Mary Ann, Ann, Jouce, Vicky.
Back row: Leila, Dede, Laura (looking like that ship's captain), Holly, Deanna.

Retreat 2012

Here we are, all 13 of us, on the deck of the house we rented for this year's retreat. We arrived Thursday and Mary Ann was able to join us for a day and night on Friday. We accomplished much, but enjoyed just as much the food, raucous laughter, walks on the beach, wine and did I say food? companionship and more walks on the beach, and of course the beginnings of our quilts about ARTIFACTS.

From the left, front row: Vicky Groom, Marilyn Simpson, Mary Ann Michelsen, Renee Gannon.
2nd Row: Ann Horton, Deanna Apfel, Holly Brackman, SuZEE Kerr, Joyce Paterson, Dede Ledford,
Laura Fogg, Leila Kazimi and Betty Lacy.

This was our fabulous view from the house we rented on our beautiful Mendocino Coast. This beach is called Seaside, which is north of Ten Mile Beach.

Quilt Retreat

MQA is getting packed for their upcoming annual retreat next week. Last year we were “on the edge” (as seen in our retro prom photo) and this year the theme is ........drum roll......we'll tell you later.

Do we have fun or what??

Out of the Comfort Zone: New Directions in Quilting

We are part of an exciting art quilt exhibit at the Grace Hudson Museum, 431 South Main Street, in Ukiah, CA, 120 miles north of San Francisco. "Out of the Comfort Zone: New Directions in Quilting" features 41 art quilts by 23 art quilters from Mendocino County, juried by Robin Cowley, Diane Perin Hock, and Carol Larson. Come see these vibrant art quilts between now and July 29, 2012. More information is available at www.gracehudsonmuseum.org.

Eleven quilters from MQA are represented in the show, including all three prizewinners. Here are those three:

The Messenger by Leila Kazimi - 1st Place

                     



 Captivating One by Betty Lacy - 2nd Place                                               Raw & Jagged by Vicky Groom - 3rd Place

                                         

Ancient Weaver

“Ancient Weaver”, by Ann Horton, has been receiving attention in the show arena.  A winner at AQS, IQA Houston and the Canadian National last year, it received a 1st place Innovative at Road to California in January.  Made with Guatemalan textiles and embroidered and appliqued symbols of the culture, it is a celebration of the weaving traditions of the Mayan people.

Love Shack

Here's a small quilt of Deanna's which she will donate to a silent auction to the Mendocino Coast Jewish Community annual benefit dinner.  The photo was taken at the site of a picturesque falling down shack in Yorkville.  See the larger quilt below the small one.  Deanna manipulates photos in Photoshop, then prints on fabric adding other fabrics to complete the design.  They are both machine quilted.

This shack in Yorkville has resulted in numerous quilts from photos taken there.  She had the permission of the owner to explore the property.  No doubt this building is one of the more photographed sites in Yorkville!

YORKVILLE SHACK  2011